Each facet of our outward appearance is another opportunity for analysis. To codify and determine who we are and where we are from. Gender is one of the many ways in which humans are defined. To determine one's scientific sex is to seemingly ascertain some of the most important characteristics of a human being. It is my belief that specifically gender dichotomy is a hindrance...a social pressure that makes us choose who we are or who we would like to be and continues female-male relationships of inferiority.
With that said, gender, particularly in the realm of musical interpretation, poses a significant challenge. In music there is a terminology which is standardized and widely-accepted in order to communicate through WORDS what we wish to accomplish in sound. However, this syntax is primarily governed by a pro-male interpretation and style, which deems female ability and interpretation as weak, inferior, and submissive. Sounds familiar? In fact, often the subversive question is: Is it better to sound like a woman OR a man?
That maybe a silly question, but more often than people care to admit, their stylistic decisions are divided into the only two camps of expression...that which is male and that which is female. Fortunately, the human element- creative expression cannot be assigned a gender. It is free of the simple categories by which we try to feebly label it.
However, when communicating ideas or aesthetics, people often resort to words, which regrettably are riddled with all sorts of gender mines. For example, when playing a passage of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 (the coda) on the timpani, several descriptive gendered terms come to mind: forceful, powerful, aggressive, and unyielding.
But what happens when your playing, your interpretation does not concur with the standard "masculine" approach? Well, then we have a problem. YOU need to re-think your interpretation to best fit the expectations of that famous piece of music...but let's be real here...who established these interpretations that academia and established musicians have come to expect and demand? MEN.
I am by no means disregarding the centuries of history have taken place in order to establish standardized interpretation, but I AM criticizing anyone (schools, orchestras, musicians, teachers and anyone else who upholds a system of dividing human emotion and expression into male and female contexts) who feels the need to simply bifurcate music.
Those of you who would disagree with me, probably think this is overboard. But when women are asked to play more like men or in the style of men, whereas men are merely asked to play lighter or softer...and rarely to play like women...well, I think there is an asymmetrical expectation of female vs. male interpretation.
But somehow, it is common practice, even among the most educated musicians to write off gendered descriptions of music as merely explanatory and terms, which are vague and not so informative, are still used in the name of creating beautiful music.
So how do we go forward? I offer this humble solution. Why offer specific, descriptive words and metaphors, which effectively guide a performer. Gender need not be mentioned. Simply legato, molto cantabile, or play like you are making love. As erformers, conductors, composers-together we are charged with the beautiful challenge of bringing life to the unknown mysteries of the universe. Words do not become us. They are necessary tools, but only a means to an end.
